


Cuddle Buddies

by Destielshipper4Cas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Dean, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Barebacking, Bottom Castiel (Supernatural), Bottom Castiel/Top Dean Winchester, Couch Cuddles, Cuddling & Snuggling, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, Massage, Mutual Pining, Omega Castiel, Omega Verse, Roommates, Scenting, Top Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-01-05 19:33:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21213905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destielshipper4Cas/pseuds/Destielshipper4Cas
Summary: Cas just wants some alpha cuddles, but alphas generally aren’t all that interested in cuddling. Luckily, he has an awesome roommate who steps up to the plate.





	1. Chapter 1

All Cas wanted was some physical contact with an alpha that didn’t lead to sex. As a single omega, that proved more difficult than he’d thought, though.

Lately, lying in bed at night, unable to fall asleep, Cas had wished more and more often for strong alpha arms to wrap around him and hold him close.

It had been a long time since he had been in a relationship and he really missed an alpha’s touch, just some cuddles here or there so that he didn’t have to feel so touch deprived all the time.

Problem was, he wasn’t interested in one-night stands since he preferred to build an emotional connection to the people he slept with first. But he also didn’t want to look for a boyfriend just to get some cuddles.

Of course, there was his roommate and best friend, who happened to be an alpha. (The fact that they were in their thirties and somehow still living together didn’t bother either of them.) Dean did touch him occasionally, a hand on the shoulder or his arm, but that wasn’t the same as getting a good cuddle.

In his fantasy, Cas imagined a _specific_ alpha’s arms around him, naturally, but since there was no chance of _that_ ever happening, Cas had tried other ways to get to his alpha cuddles.

In vain.

He was just coming home from meeting a potential cuddle buddy. Unfortunately, the alpha had turned out to be a complete assbutt.

“Why do you alphas always want sex?” Cas vented as he threw himself down on the couch next to Dean and reached into the bag of chips the alpha was snacking on while flipping through some car magazine.

“Uhm… ’cause it’s awesome?”

Cas rolled his eyes. “Why do I even bother? You’re one of them.”

“So, this Ryan guy wanted to get into your pants, huh?” Dean asked as he closed the magazine and put it on the table.

Cas squinted at him. “No. He wanted to have sex with me.”

“Yeah, that’s… never mind.”

“He called me a knottease when I told him that that wasn’t what I was looking for.” Cas tried to glower and show how angry he was, but in reality, he was a bit sad. The insult had shook him. He wasn’t a knottease, was he? He had been upfront about what he had been looking for from the start. “Why did he even answer the ad? I was very specific about asking for _cuddling_, not _sex_.”

To prove his point, he took out his cell phone and searched for the ad before holding it under Dean’s nose.

_Are you a lonely alpha, who wants to cuddle with an unmated omega? Give me a call if you want to cuddle and maybe more._

Straightforward and to the point.

Dean skimmed over the ad and promptly started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Cas quickly put his phone away again, slightly affronted by Dean’s reaction.

“This makes you sound like a prostitute, you realize that, right?”

“What? It does not!”

Dean just had another laughing fit, trying to get enough air, and Cas patiently waited him out.

Finally, the alpha said, “‘Maybe more?’ Everyone knows that’s code for sex.”

“It’s not!” Cas immediately protested. “Get your mind out of the drain.”

“Gutter,” Dean corrected, but Cas ignored him and went on, “That clearly refers to scenting.”

“No, it really doesn’t. Maybe you should have taken my suggestion.”

“Your suggestion was ‘Call for all your omega cuddle needs.’ How is that better?”

“Well, it’s not _worse_.”

Cas stared into space, thinking about how he could rephrase the ad so that no other alpha would call him a knottease. Maybe he should add something like ‘no sex of any kind.’

He was startled out of his thoughts when Dean was pulling him into a hug, a hand on the back of Cas’ head pulling his head to Dean’s chest, the other hand rubbing gently over his back.

“Dean?” Cas asked, confused. “What are you doing?”

“You wanted alpha cuddles? Here, have some. Free without any expectations of sexual favors.”

“Dean, you don’t have to…” Cas started, trying to sit up, but Dean was having none of it and pulled him in close again.

“Shut up. I’m doing a nice thing here,” the alpha said. And then, less gruff and more of a gentle mumble, “Maybe I could use some omega cuddles, too.”

Cas stopped trying to resist and just let himself be held. After a while, when it became clear that Dean wasn’t planning on letting go of him anytime soon, Cas relaxed further and burrowed deeper into the embrace.

He was lucky Ryan had been some sex-obsessed alpha because this right here—this was better than any cuddle buddy relationship he could have found through his ad. This was everything he had dreamed of for _years_. Dean’s arms around him, his strong alpha scent engulfing him, promising safety and filling his senses with calm…

These were the kinds of cuddles his omega had craved and yearned for. Now that he had them, if only for a moment, he was holding on for dear life.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, very quietly as to not make Dean self-conscious and stop their cuddle session. After all, the alpha was not one for omega flick moments as he always said.

“Any time,” Dean mumbled back and for a second, Cas thought he felt Dean’s lips brush against his forehead.

But surely he must have imagined it…


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, when Cas had revised his ad for a cuddle buddy, he decided to avoid making the same mistake twice and show it to Dean first. After all, the alpha was quite good at sniffing out unintentional sexual innuendo.

He found Dean in the kitchen drinking coffee. Apparently, he was in a great mood as he gave Cas one of his huge smiles—the one that reached his eyes and made them crinkle at the corners. The one that made Cas’ heart flip-flop.

When Cas read the new version to him, Dean’s expression turned sour, making Cas take another look at the ad in confusion. He had really thought this one would be clear on all fronts. (Then again, he had thought so the last time as well.)

“What?” he asked, looking up at Dean again, his brows furrowed, when he couldn’t find any mistakes himself.

“Nothin’,” Dean said with a careless shrug. “Just thought _I _was your cuddle alpha now. No big deal.” Then he nodded at the piece of paper in Cas’ hands and added, “Sounds good.”

Cas knew Dean well enough that he could see right through the stoic mask and tell that it was in fact a very big deal and that the alpha just didn’t want to admit it.

“I didn’t know you wanted to make this a regular thing,” he said, stunned.

Another shrug that seemed just a little bit off. “Like I said, no biggie.”

With those words, Dean’s eyes focused on the mug again and he blew on his coffee—the discussion was clearly over as far as he was concerned.

“I would very much like to make it a regular thing,” Cas quickly said, barely daring to hope that he could actually have that. Regular cuddle sessions with _Dean_. He might not survive that, but at the same time, he wanted it with all his heart.

“Yeah?” Dean asked, glancing at him almost shyly, a small smile coming back to his face.

Maybe he hadn’t lied and actually _could_ use some omega cuddles, too.

Cas smiled back and crumpled up the piece of paper. It seemed like he had found his perfect cuddle buddy.

* * *

Cas was in cuddle heaven. Who would have thought that Dean was an absolute pro at cuddling? Okay, sure, it helped that Cas had this enormous secret crush on the alpha, so Dean could have absolutely _sucked_ at it and Cas would probably still have loved every second of it.

But Dean really knew how to cuddle an omega so that he felt safe and cared for. He stroked all along Cas’ arms, shoulders, back, and even the side of the face, his touch leaving a tingly sensation behind. Cas was beginning to think that Dean had some kind of magic touch, the way the alpha’s cuddles made him feel lighter than air and grounded at the same time.

While trying out different cuddle positions, they started out with couch cuddles, just kind of embracing each other as they had done before.

When they were watching TV together, Cas would sometimes use Dean’s lap as a pillow from then on. Other times, Dean would just pull him against his side and keep his hand on Cas’ shoulder or touch his neck, playing with the hair at his nape, sending goosebumps down Cas’ skin and making it impossible for Cas to concentrate on what was going on in the movie.

Cas’ favorite couch cuddle position so far was when Dean had laid down on his back and pulled Cas on top of him, making room between his legs.

There had been an awkward moment at first when Cas had tried to hold himself very still because it kind of seemed like a cuddling position for mates, but Dean hadn’t let on that he thought it was weird in any way. So after a while, Cas had relaxed, laid his head on Dean’s chest, and enjoyed the closeness, soaking in the physical comfort provided.

Since there were a few cuddle positions Dean wanted to try out for which they needed more space, they expanded their cuddle places to Dean’s bed, which was bigger than Cas’.

The bed offered a whole array of new intimate cuddle positions. Dean’s couple of extra inches meant that their bodies fit perfectly when they tried some full-body cuddles.

The new element they introduced to their friendship worked simply enough. They had always been great at nonverbal communication, so all Cas had to do most of the time when he wanted a cuddle was glance at Dean with his ‘come cuddle me’ look and that was that. Dean, for his part, was a bit more straightforward when he wanted some cuddle time. He would just walk up to Cas, raise his eyebrows, and say, “You wanna?” (Cas always wanted to.)

Of course, his omega, who was helplessly in love with Dean, thought this meant they were courting.

Cas couldn’t blame him. He had everything he wanted, and still… He didn’t just want to be cuddled and held, he wanted to be _loved_. He wanted Dean’s alpha to see him as more than a best friend and cuddle buddy.

“Hey, what happened to your scent?” Dean asked, their bodies snug against each other while in the middle of their cuddle session.

“What?”

“Just turned kind of sad there. You okay?”

Talking about scents gave him the perfect idea for how to distract Dean from the truth. “What about the ‘maybe more’ part?”

Dean looked at him with wide eyes and licked his lips, getting ready to say something, when Cas realized how that could be misconstrued, and he quickly clarified. “I mean the scenting. Or is that too weird?”

“Nah. Not weird. C’mere.”

“I literally can’t come any closer without being inside of you.”

Dean froze for a moment, then he laughed a deep, melodious rumble. “Don’t ever change.”

“What? What did I say?”

“Just start scentin’, you doofus,” Dean instructed and promptly followed his own advice.

After the first couple of whiffs had tickled his scent gland and sent a strange sort of tingling down his spine, Cas realized that he was screwed—and not in the way he’d like to be.

The butterflies in his stomach he had tried to keep a lid on went crazy and even though Dean was right next to him, he felt a strange longing for the alpha.

Yes, his omega was definitely thinking that Dean should be more than a best friend and cuddle buddy. Who was he kidding? He’d been thinking that for _years_ now.

Breathing in Dean’s delicious alpha scent did nothing to help settle the butterflies in his stomach. Instead, they were doing somersaults, and when Dean put his hand at the small of his back to try and pull him closer still, he felt like melting into the embrace and never letting go.


	3. Chapter 3

Dean was sitting in the Roadhouse, nursing a beer and waiting for the others to arrive. They always met up a couple of hours before trivia night started to get good seats and have some time to catch up.

Usually, he’d bring Cas with him, but the omega wasn’t feeling too well and had told him to go without him. A quick peek at the calendar had cleared things up and made Dean stop worrying. Just PHS.

He had to hold back from fussing too much since that only served to make Cas even more moody in the days leading up to his heat. So, he had come a bit early to get away from Cas’ glares, which told him that a quick cuddle was certainly out of the question.

Dean still couldn’t quite believe that he was allowed to cuddle Cas as much as he wanted to (well, at least when he wasn’t PHSing).

His alpha had gone a little bit crazy when Cas had first told him about his search for an alpha cuddle buddy when Dean had been _right there_.

He had even offered to be his cuddle buddy (“Don’t need an alpha to cuddle if you got me, babe.”). Unfortunately, he had been a bit too convincing with his joking tone of voice accompanied by a playful wink (so that he could play it off as a joke in case Cas turned him down), so Cas had just rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, right.”

Thank you, Ryan, for screwing up the cuddle date!

Dean had been on cloud nine ever since. Getting to hold and scent Cas was still a bit surreal after all the years he’d been crushing on his best friend. Hard.

Before their cuddle buddy arrangement, he’d had to get away with touches that were socially acceptable for alphas and omegas who were best friends. Punching his arm, fist bumping (which had taken a while to teach Cas), ruffling his hair if he had been especially daring…

They also occasionally liked to roughhouse a little, which was just something alphas and omegas did, chasing each other around a bit, the alpha trying to pin the omega underneath him, the omega squirming and trying to get away...

Correction, it was something _adolescent _alphas and omegas did. It was maybe a bit weird for alphas and omegas who were supposed to be adults, but he and Cas had never really been normal anyway.

The only thing that had changed was that now, their roughhousing was followed up by a cuddle session. When they were both out of breath, coming down from the adrenaline rush of their little playtime, relaxing in each other’s arms was a nice way to calm down. It also made his alpha feel as if he had won when Cas wasn’t trying to get away anymore but was letting himself be held.

Not having to worry about socially acceptable ways to touch Cas was _great_. Now that they were cuddle buddies, he got to snuggle the bejesus out of Cas right there in his bed without having to worry that the omega might catch on to his feelings. As an added bonus, his bed always smelled like Cas after their cuddle sessions, which meant that Dean regularly got a good night’s sleep out of it as well, his face buried in the pillow Cas had laid on.

Still, there were some things Dean couldn’t do, even though his alpha really wanted to, now that he had Cas this close. Kiss his stupid chapped lips, for example. Tell him how he had never been able to imagine himself with a mate other than Cas and how the thought of Cas eventually finding someone else to settle down with was breaking his heart.

He was startled out of his thoughts when Sam arrived together with Jess. They sat down opposite of him and Sam didn’t waste any time on pleasantries.

“You smell even more like Cas than usual,” he said. “What gives? You finally made your move?”

“What? Dean’s finally made his move on Cas?” Charlie asked, who had just arrived and made Dean scoot over so she could slide in the booth next to him.

“About time,” Benny said, joining them.

“Did you all come together or something?” Dean grumbled, who was starting to feel ganged up on.

“C’mon, give us the deets,” Charlie begged, all excited. “Was it romantic? Have you two scent-bonded? Have you—”

“No move of any kind has been made,” Dean interrupted her, eliciting a collective groan from the rest of the table.

“And here we thought you’d have finally grown a pair,” Benny said.

Dean just flipped him off.

* * *

Since they were one person short and still had some time till trivia night started, Charlie tried chatting up people to find someone who would be willing to take Cas’ place, even though they probably didn’t have a shot at winning without Cas. The dude knew the most bizarre things.

Charlie finally brought over a petite redhead omega she introduced as ‘Anna,’ who promptly sat down next to Dean.

Her obtrusive smell was bothering Dean after having grown accustomed to Cas’ delicious scent. She was constantly leaning into his space, making Dean suppress a sneeze, but of course, he couldn’t tell her to scoot over, since Charlie was sitting on her other side. Plus, you didn’t go around telling strangers that their scent was making you nauseous.

He might need some more alcohol to get through the night…

* * *

When Dean came home that night, Cas was sitting on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, reading his favorite book, so engrossed in it that he didn’t hear Dean come in.

Dean’s mood picked up almost instantly. He put the keys into the bowl by the door, which finally made Cas look up.

“Hey, feeling better?” Dean asked as he walked over.

At first, a smile appeared on Cas’ face—he usually apologized for snapping at Dean when he had been irritable.

Feeling hopeful that maybe his night might still be salvageable if it ended with getting to snuggle Cas, Dean sat down next to him.

As soon as he leaned closer, however, the smile fell off Cas’ face and the omega closed his book with a snap, untangled himself from the blanket, and got up.

“I’m going to bed,” he informed Dean shortly before leaving for his room.

Dean was left to stare after him, confused. Yeah, that was most definitely a case of PHS.


	4. Chapter 4

Cas had always had… ‘soft’ heats for lack of a better word.

The first time he had gone into heat when they had moved in together, Dean had offered to stay the night at Sam’s, but Cas had waved him off and said that that wasn’t necessary.

Dean had been confused to say the least when Cas had just strolled around in the apartment, going about his business as usual, the only indication that he was in heat a smell that had made it hard for Dean not to walk over and kiss him for all he was worth. That wasn’t that different from how Dean usually felt about the omega, though, so Dean had shrugged it off.

Of course, Cas had vanished into his room from time to time, but Dean hadn’t heard a sound. (He wasn’t proud of it, but he might have wandered close to the door, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.) Dean had no idea if Cas was so much as jerking off whenever he disappeared in his room for a while.

Now, years later, Dean was left confused again when Cas came out of his room in the middle of his heat and asked for a _cuddle session_ of all things.

Dean just gaped at him, speechless for a moment, no idea of what the protocol for cuddle buddies was in a situation like this. Who had ever heard of an alpha _cuddling_ an omega through his heat?

“Uhm…” he said eloquently.

“Never mind,” Cas sighed and turned around to go back to his room.

“Yeah, sure,” Dean was quick to call after him, surprising even himself.

What kind of a cuddle alpha turned down his cuddle omega in need, after all?

There was a moment in which he was left gaping after Cas _again_ when the omega, after turning around and rewarding Dean with one of his beautiful little smiles, just walked off towards Dean’s room.

Seemed like Dean was about to have a good cuddle with Cas _in his bed_ while Cas was in between bouts of heat. Awesome.

With Cas in his arms, Dean spooning him from behind, the omega’s sweet heat scent all around him, Dean found it hard not to get too affectionate with him. Then again, what was ‘too affectionate’ when you were allowed to scent him and let your hands roam all over your cuddle buddy’s body? (Well, not _all_ over it, but over most places that were safe cuddle buddy territory.)

It seemed like the difference was peppering soft kisses along his neck—which Dean couldn’t help himself doing. Of course, he would deny those were ‘kisses’ if Cas asked him about it. He was just… cuddling him. With his mouth.

Yeah, right. Plausible deniability, thy name is Dean Winchester.

Dean didn’t even need the excuse because Cas didn’t ask about it. He just melted into Dean’s arms and sighed as if this was actually helping him with his heat. Apparently, being cuddled by an alpha’s mouth was something he was okay with.

“You smell nice,” Dean said and immediately winced. Way to come on to his best friend in heat. And with a pick-up line as old as heats and ruts, too.

Luckily, Cas didn’t appear to think it was a stupid line, though. Instead, Dean could see an adorable blush spread across the omega’s neck.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, and Dean thought he should totally compliment him more often if it meant Cas got this adorably flustered.

After a while, his alpha demanded a bit more, though. Skin on skin contact sounded just like what he needed. Cuddling Cas with his mouth didn’t seem enough anymore. He wanted to cuddle him with his _dick_. Cuddle the inside of Cas’ asshole, to be specific.

Of course, there was only one explanation for why Dean felt like this.

“Cas, I think you’re about to have another bout of heat,” he realized.

Cas shot him a look over his shoulder, and yeah—Dean knew that look. That was Cas asking for another cuddle. Damn, the omega was gonna be the death of him! And what did it say about Dean that he couldn’t deny Cas?!

“Just one more minute,” Cas mumbled, moving back a bit so that his back was flush against Dean’s front again.

This was giving Dean’s alpha all the wrong signals, of course.

“Cas… You know that when an alpha… and an omega…” Oh my God, was he seriously having the birds and the bees talk with Cas? “I mean, if the omega is in heat… With the scent… You know?”

There. That had been coherent enough. There was no way Cas wouldn’t figure out what he meant by that.

“Dean?” Cas said. “Stop talking and just hold me close, please.”

Dean was in hell. There was no other way to describe having the love of his life in his arms, smelling so delicious, so ripe for the taking, and not being able to do anything more than hold him, and stroke along his arms.

It was a very comfortable hell, though. Apart from the situation in his pants, which was getting more and more uncomfortable as Cas’ heat scent grew stronger. How in the world had Cas not yet realized the effect he was having on Dean?

Somehow, Dean’s hand ended up underneath Cas’ shirt without Dean consciously making the decision to feel up his best friend. With Dean’s hand splayed across the omega’s stomach, Dean pulled Cas against him. The hand on Cas’ naked skin felt amazing. His belly was wonderfully soft and Dean couldn’t help but stroke the skin tenderly. It was everything he could do not to rock his hips against the omega’s backside, though.

After a while, during which Dean began to wonder if his alpha would go insane and snap, Cas finally sighed once more and extracted himself from Dean’s intimate embrace.

“I think I have to…” he trailed off and motioned towards the door.

Yeah, no shit. How Cas had been able to hold out for so long remained a mystery to Dean.

He just nodded dumbly and then had the hardest time holding his alpha back from following Cas as the omega left his room. Watching his omega in heat walk away from him gave him the weirdest urge to give chase. Somehow, he doubted Cas would appreciate being tackled by his alpha best friend when he was just about to go take care of his heat.


	5. Chapter 5

Having such a ginormous crush on the alpha, Cas had fantasized about Dean during his heats before. A lot. (And felt guilty about perving on his best friend afterwards. He was sure that if Dean knew, they wouldn’t be as comfortable with each other ever again as they always were.)

This heat, Dean was actually _touching_ him in between bouts of heat, though, which made it easier and harder at the same time. Easier, because his omega quieted down once in Dean’s arms, and their cuddling felt more sensual, more intimate, just… more. Harder, because once he was alone in his room again, all his omega wanted to do was rush back to Dean’s room, present for him and beg him to take him.

Again, this was nothing new, per se. But with Dean’s scent and touch so fresh in his memory, it was more difficult than usual to hold back his omega.

Of course, Cas had realized that Dean had gotten turned on while they were in bed together. Being this close to an omega in heat would awake sexual desire in _any_ alpha. That was just biology’s way of ensuring the survival of their species.

Even though it was a natural, instinctual reaction for any alpha, Cas had still liked the fact that Dean had gotten aroused because of _him_.

That would teach a lesson to the omega whose scent had been all over Dean the other night.

Cas wasn’t proud of how he had reacted when Dean had come home from trivia night smelling of another omega for the first time in _years_. After all, Dean wasn’t his alpha. He could go around letting omegas rub their scent all over him all he wanted.

Still. Just because he hadn’t been in the mood for a cuddle quickie, Dean didn’t have to go out to get drunk and sleep with the first omega who crossed his path.

When Cas had first moved in with Dean, the alpha had hardly ever come back from a bar _not_ smelling like an omega. That phase hadn’t lasted too long, though, and Dean had outgrown the need to put his knot into every pretty omega who caught his eye.

And then the alpha just… hadn’t smelled like another omega at all anymore. So, Cas might have gotten used to having Dean all to himself. Which was why he really hadn’t cared for smelling another omega on Dean again. Those times of casual hook-ups were supposed to be behind Dean. And Cas didn’t even want to think about the possibility that it might have been something more than a casual hook-up.

Now that he was out of heat and could think more clearly again, he realized that he had no right to be mad at Dean for having some fun at the Roadhouse. After all, the alpha had no idea that he was hurting Cas by finding solace in another omega’s arms.

There was nothing wrong, however, with trying to get to the bottom of who the mystery omega had been.

“Dean?” Cas said during dinner. “What’s new in your life?”

“Uhm… since this morning?” Dean asked, his mouth full of burger. He swallowed and went on, “Well, I was trolling the internet and found the perfect mating present for Sam and Jess. It’s this hideous figure of an alpha and an omega going at it doggy-style. It’s gonna freak him out so bad, man.” Dean laughed. “And then whenever I come to visit, I can ask him about it, so he’ll have to put it out on a shelf or something…”

“Dean…” Cas began, intending on bringing the conversation back to who he had met at the Roadhouse.

Dean interpreted his interjection wrong, though, and defended himself, “What? I already bought this awesome game for mates. I’m entitled a prank gift, too.”

“What game?” Cas asked, alarmed, momentarily forgetting his original mission. “I thought we agreed on the blender from the registry.”

“I almost bought the boring blender, but then I found this game... It’s _awesome_. They will have _so much_ fun with it, believe me!”

“They explicitly said they didn’t want any gifts they didn’t register for,” Cas reminded Dean. “You know Sam doesn’t really like your kind of surprises.”

“That’s ’cause he’s a buzzkill. But he’ll thank me later.”

Cas would definitely have to make sure that Sam and Jess knew that the sex figure was all Dean and that he didn’t have anything to do with it. As for the game, Cas might have to take a look at it in order to decide if he wanted to get in on the present or buy the blender himself.

Dean had apparently thought along similar lines because he said, “Let’s try it out.”

“What?”

“The game. You’ll see it’s the perfect present for them.”

Without waiting for Cas’ answer, he pushed the rest of his burger into his mouth, got up and dashed out of the room.

Five minutes later, they were sitting in the living room on the couch in front of a stack of cards. (Dean had waved off Cas’ protest to keep the game in the original packaging. According to him, they were simply ‘sampling the goods.’)

Cas was not impressed so far. “What kind of game consists of _only_ taking a card?”

“Taking a card _and doing what it says_,” Dean corrected, picked the first card, and read out, “Give me a bear hug.”

He looked at Cas. Cas looked back.

“I thought you said _you’d_ have to do what the card says,” Cas pointed out. “This sounds like _I_ have to do it.”

Dean pouted at him and Cas rolled his eyes. Since the alpha seemed really excited about showing Cas what a great mating present he had procured, Cas humored him and pulled him into a tight hug before letting go and taking a card himself.

“Kiss me (not on the lips),” the card said.

Maybe playing this game hadn’t been the best idea. If it was a game for _mates_, it stood to reason that kissing and other mate-type things were part of it.

A pleasant shiver ran down Cas’ back as he remembered Dean’s lips touching the back of his neck. But that had been during his heat. It had simply been alpha instincts making Dean do that. It wasn’t like Dean had actually _wanted_ to brush his lips against his neck or anything…

Still, in his bid to prove how great the game was, Dean scooted over, let his eyes roam all over Cas while deciding where to kiss him, and then leaned over to place a soft kiss right on his mating gland.

Cas felt himself blush furiously. Even though rationally, he knew that Dean was just being Dean and goofing around, he couldn’t keep his mind from associating the gesture with courting behavior. Usually, only a mate or an alpha courting an omega would touch an omega’s mating gland, much less kiss it.

“Your turn,” Cas mumbled, hoping against hope that Dean hadn’t realized how red his face had gotten.

Dean scooted half an inch away again, their knees still touching, and took another card. “Remove an article of clothing,” he read, shrugged his shoulders and then proceeded to take off his pants so that he was left in boxer shorts that had takeout boxes with noodles on them and said, ‘Send Noods.’

Cas would probably have taken off a sock or something, but the alpha had always been comfortable in his own skin. Cas tried not to stare at his cute bowlegs.

* * *

Dean kicked his pants away and sat back down, throwing a confident smirk Cas’ way.

Somewhere along the line, this game had turned into a game of chicken and Dean would so not be the one to lose. No way was he going to let shy Castiel win at a game that was apparently about how comfortable you were with your sexuality.

Cas averted his eyes, which Dean took as a win. Yeah, he had as good as won.

The omega took the next card, obviously not ready to give up just yet. “Let me nibble your scent gland,” Cas read.

That’s it. He had won. There was no way Cas would—

_Oh!_

Cas was leaning over, one hand on Dean’s knee to brace himself (Dean totally regretted his choice to take off his pants at this point), and began licking around his scent gland with little flicks of his tongue.

_Really _regretted the choice to take off his pants because this was _so_ not the moment to get aroused!

He cut himself off mid-moan when he realized that making sex noises while his best friend was nibbling on his scent gland was all kinds of inappropriate.

A last flick of the tongue and Cas retreated, both too soon and not soon enough at the same time.

“Yeah… uhm… that was… quite some nipple. Nibble,” Dean quickly corrected himself.

Apparently, it was a really bad idea to talk right now, so he cleared his throat and went for another card, which he almost dropped.

Maybe he had underestimated Cas, but he was in too deep now to admit defeat…


	6. Chapter 6

Dean tried to get his head back in the game as he read out his dare, “Make a sex noise.”

Before he could do what the card asked him to do, Cas pointed out, “You kind of just did that one.”

Dean blinked at Cas, rendered speechless for a moment. That almost sounded like… flirting. Had it been anyone else, there would be no question about it. But Cas? The omega who couldn’t flirt worth shit? Over the years, Dean had flirted with Cas a lot, and the omega had never once picked up on it.

No, Cas probably didn’t realize what he had said could be construed as playful flirting.

But maybe Dean should flirt back, just in case? “Can you blame me? Cute omega nibbling on my scent gland… of course my alpha is gonna rumble his approval.”

And there it was. Cas’ expression turned confused just like it always did when Dean was trying to hit on him.

Time to step up his game if he didn’t want to get beaten at a—let’s call it what it was—sex game by a shy little omega.

Imagining what he would like to do to Cas, Dean began panting and then let moans of “Oh, yeah! Yessss!” slip out.

There. That wasn’t too bad. He had almost turned himself on there. (Mostly due to the memory of Cas nibbling on his scent gland and not his own sex noises, though.)

When he looked at Cas, he saw that the omega was a bit flushed. That was more like it. It seemed like Dean had the upper hand once more.

Cas’ blush deepened when he took the next card. Curious, Dean leaned over to take a look at what the card wanted him to do. ‘Tell your partner about a sexual fantasy.’

“I don’t have one,” Cas said, his eyes flitting everywhere but in Dean’s direction.

“You don’t have _any_ sexual fantasy?” Dean asked, not believing it for a second.

“No.”

“I call bullshit. What do you get yourself off to? Like, during your heat and stuff?”

Cas’ face couldn’t possibly get any redder. Oh, this promised to be _good_. Somehow, Dean didn’t care all that much about winning anymore. Of course, he was _close_ to winning if Cas’ squirming was anything to go by, but he wanted to know Cas’ sex fantasy more than he wanted him to forfeit.

“When I’m in heat, I’m in _heat_,” Cas said, glowering at him, probably to cover up his embarrassment. “I don’t really _need _a fantasy to ‘get off’ then.” He even did the whole air quotes thing, which Dean always found amusing.

“But you have one anyway,” Dean pressed, eager to find out what it was. “Come on. You can tell me. Some alpha mounting you from behind and making you his bitch? Or are _you_ the one mounting the alpha?”

“De-ean!”

He had always loved making Cas squirm, but this right here? Way too cute. Cas all embarrassed about some sex fantasy he didn’t want to share…

Dean was about to let his best friend off the hook (at least that would mean he’d won the game, which would be fodder for teasing Cas for _weeks_) when the omega mumbled, barely loud enough for Dean to hear, “Him knotting me.”

He said it as if that was somehow some dirty fantasy and not the most normal sex act _ever_. The dictionary definition of ‘vanilla sex’ probably said something along the lines of an alpha fucking and knotting an omega.

“You’re kidding, right? _That’s_ your big secret fantasy?”

And then it clicked. ‘_Him_ knotting me.’ There was some mysterious alpha Cas was fantasizing about and _that’s _what had him all a-blush.

Dean felt a stab in his chest at that thought. How was this the first time he was hearing about it? Cas told him _every_thing. There were no secrets between them.

Maybe he would have been better off not knowing…

To distract himself, he quickly picked another card and read it out, “‘What’s your favorite intimate act apart from penetration?’ That’s easy. Eating him out. No, wait. I think it’s scent gland play,” he realized, thinking back to Cas licking his scent gland. “Kissing, naked cuddling, blowjobs!” Dean listed all the things he had imagined doing with Cas. “This is too hard!” he finally concluded, throwing down the stupid card that made him want to do all of those things to the omega.

Fact was, with Cas, _every_ intimate act would be his favorite act.

Cas’ next card read ‘Tickle me,’ which incidentally was one of Dean’s favorite roughhousing moves. They hadn’t done that in a while.

Dean had Cas pinned underneath him on the floor in a manner of seconds. Cas made an adorable ‘Eeep’ sound, and Dean grinned down at him, predatory alpha instincts vying with protective ones.

“Gotcha,” he said and started tickling the omega, who began writhing around underneath him, giggling and laughing.

As an alpha, Dean could easily keep him in check while pulling up his shirt to expose a bare belly ripe for tickling.

Cas tried to crawl away, but Dean pulled him back with ease, using feather-light touches to stimulate a reaction out of the omega. And boy did he get a reaction.

Maybe it was because they had talked about sex acts and done some pretty raunchy things during this game. Maybe it was the fact that Cas hadn’t been out of heat for long, but Dean thought he could smell the sweet scent of omega slick.

Dean was more than turned on by the situation himself. Having Cas at his mercy was an incredible power rush.

“Surrender,” Cas finally panted, which was sort of their safe word for tickle-wrestle matches like these.

Dean stopped tickling him immediately, but he was still straddling him, Cas’ wrists pinned above him. He looked down into Cas’ blue eyes, and when the omega blinked up at him, strangely enough with his ‘come cuddle me’ look, Dean wanted nothing more than to duck down and kiss those soft lips. Kiss his dazed expression right off his face and continue kissing him until his lips were all red and swollen.

The fact that Dean was straddling Cas in his boxers caught up to him and he quickly got off Cas and helped him up before sitting back down on the couch, trying to regain his posture and calm down his dick, which had thought for a moment there that it was playtime.

He had hoped for a card that would give him the chance to joke around and cool down. Instead, he got, ‘Give your partner an oil massage.’

Game. Over.


	7. Chapter 7

Cas grinned at him, all confident in his victory. “Seems like I win,” he stated, his grin turning smug.

They had always been a bit competitive, during game nights as well as during their roughhousing, no one admitting defeat easily, but this was ridiculous. It was pretty obvious that _Dean_ had won this round.

“What? No, _I _win,” Dean countered. Granted, this was _his_ card, but it was clearly Cas who didn’t want Dean’s hands sliding all over him.

Suddenly, Cas wasn’t looking so sure anymore. “Well, we don’t even have any massage oil…” he pointed out, apparently trying to get Dean to admit that it was a draw.

Which it so wasn’t.

“Speak for yourself,” Dean said and got up to go to his room. He would absolutely call Cas out on his bluff and get him to forfeit.

Being the awesome brother he was, he had bought the good stuff for Sam and Jess to go along with the game. It looked like he would have to buy the bottle of overpriced massage oil _again_. If he couldn’t get Cas to admit defeat before he opened the bottle, that was.

Which he totally would. Cas would get freaked when he saw how serious Dean was.

When he returned with the bottle, Cas’ eyes got big and round. Yeah, who won the game now?

“So, you might wanna take off your shirt…” Dean mentioned casually, trying to suppress a grin.

Cas was uncomfortable getting undressed in front of him on his best days. While Dean had no problems walking from the bathroom to his own room in nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips, Cas always went into and came out of the bathroom fully dressed.

Cas looked from the massage oil to Dean and back. Any second now, he’d concede victory to Dean.

“I don’t think the couch will be spacious enough. We should relocate to the bed.”

Dean felt his jaw drop.

Oh, the game was _on_! Cas obviously thought he’d back out. Well, in that case, he had another think coming.

“Sure.” Dean shrugged as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Let’s go to my room.”

While he was leading Cas to his bed, it struck him that he really couldn’t lose. The most likely outcome was that Cas would back down when things got real, which meant Dean would win in the literal sense. If Cas didn’t back down, Dean would get to _touch him all over_, which would be an even bigger win in his book.

The moment Cas took off his shirt and laid down on his stomach in Dean’s bed seemed a bit surreal, but then Dean opened the bottle (yep, it was official: he’d have to buy a new one), and straddled the omega’s hips. Only when he had made himself at home on top of Cas did he realize that he maybe should have sat down next to him instead. Especially since he still hadn’t put his pants back on. Oh well, too late now.

Cas didn’t freak out. He didn’t jump out of Dean’s bed. He didn’t back down.

Not even when Dean let some of the massage oil dribble onto his naked back. He did flinch a little, though, and so Dean poured some more of the oil into his cupped palm to warm it up first before putting his hands on Cas’ back.

Cas still didn’t admit defeat when Dean distributed the oil all over his shoulders and back, his strokes turning more confident by the second.

Okay, then. Looked like Dean had gotten his win. His hands gliding effortlessly over Cas’ silky skin, glistening with oil, felt absolutely _incredible_.

Cas held himself a bit stiff at first, so Dean started off with slow, broad strokes up and down to get the omega accustomed to his touch. Slowly, ever so slowly, Cas began to relax and sink further into the mattress.

With all the cuddling they’d been doing lately, somehow, giving a sensual massage like this didn’t seem weird at all. It was just another form of intimate touching.

Dean moved to Cas’ shoulders and then his hands found Cas’ neck of their own accord. His thumbs kneaded the cords of his neck, eliciting a moan from Cas.

Usually, he’d tease him, saying something like, ‘Who’s the one making sex noises now?’ Instead, he asked, a bit hoarse, “Good?”

“Hmm,” Cas sighed, so Dean continued massaging his neck.

His eyes were drawn to Cas’ mating gland on the side of his neck and he couldn’t stop himself from casually brushing against it.

Cas inhaled sharply and went rigid-still for a moment, but Dean just continued on as if nothing had happened until Cas went limp again.

Man, did he want to duck down and get a taste of Cas’ mating gland! And who was stopping him, really? They had already crossed some boundaries here.

Still, playing with an omega’s _mating gland _was a Big Deal and sent some pretty clear signals.

Fuck it. Dean brushed against it again with one finger, fascinated when he saw Cas shiver slightly and clutch at the pillow. He still didn’t tell him to stop, though, so Dean did it again.

Oh God, he was seriously touching Cas’ _mating gland_. The kiss to Cas’ mating gland earlier that evening had been partly teasing and had been over with too soon anyway. But this—this was deliberate. This was a suggestion. A proposition. The question very clear in every touch against the mating gland: _Would you let me claim you?_

Remembering that he was supposed to massage Cas here, Dean let his hands glide to his back again and further down to his hips, scooting down a bit himself to make place for his hands, so that he was now straddling Cas’ butt.

Cas made another sex noise, encouraging Dean to continue gently caressing his hips and lower back.

The delicious scent of slick reached his nostrils, and Dean was sure Cas had to smell his own arousal at this point. Or feel it, since his boxers couldn’t really hide what was going on inside them.

He reached the waistband of Cas’ pants and slid his hand down inside, just a little bit, just to test the waters, giving the swell of his ass a quick fondle before moving up to his lower back again.

When Cas didn’t buck him off, he did it again on the next swipe, pushing his hand a bit deeper inside Cas’ pants this time around so that he could give his ass cheeks a squeeze. The scent of slick intensified.

Dean reached around underneath Cas, and the omega lifted his hips a bit to give him better access to the front of his pants. Once Dean found the button, he popped it, lowered the zipper, and helped Cas shimmy them down his hips.

Expanding the massage to a butt massage was really the next logical step. They were basically still just cuddling, only extending the places they were allowed to touch.

Feeling that Cas’ boxers were still in the way, Dean quickly pushed them down as well, which gave his hands so much more freedom to roam over the omega’s ass and massage the cheeks, pulling them apart just to be thorough.

His pulse quickened when he saw slick glistening between Cas’ cheeks, mixing with the oil.

He swiped over his hole, just a light touch, easily mistaken for an accident. A sound made him stop short, but it was just a moan.

Dean dared another swipe over Cas’ pucker, this time gathering up some slick and then, heart in his throat, pushing it inside a bit.

He had a finger inside of his best friend’s asshole! Well, until the second knuckle, at least.

For a second, he didn’t dare move, his finger stuck in Cas’ warmth, connecting them in an intimate way they had never been connected before.

When the ‘finger in your best friend’s butt’ police didn’t show up, he experimentally wiggled it around, and immediately felt more slick pave the way for his finger to slide in more easily.

Dean gently started fucking his whole finger in and out of Cas’ hole. This was without a doubt the single most erotic thing he had ever done with an omega. Forget coming inside any other omega. This, right here, was the most intimate moment he had ever experienced. (Admittedly, it had been a while since he had done anything remotely sexual with an omega, but still…)

Dean felt around a bit for that small knob and when he had found it, Cas began undulating his hips in small movements in rhythm to Dean fingering him, a steady stream of sexy moans escaping him.

Dean’s dick was so hard it was hurting with the need to get in on the action. He couldn’t just put it into his best friend without asking, though.

“Oh God, Cas, we’re on the same page here, right?”

“No.” Dean froze, his brain frantically trying to come up with apologies when Cas already continued, “I’m a few pages ahead.”


	8. Chapter 8

When Dean got the go-ahead from Cas, he turned him around onto his back. He needed to be able to look into Cas’ eyes when he first entered him. Together, they quickly got rid of the rest of Cas’ clothes.

He shouldn’t have been surprised to see Cas’ hard dick lying on his belly—he had smelled slick, after all. But it still left him staring at it, not quite ready to believe that this was because of _him_. _He_ had turned Cas on to the point that his prick was huge and red, desperate to be touched.

Cas was trying to get him out of his shirt now, too, and Dean finally snapped out of it and helped him divest the rest of his clothes.

Seemed like his dream of naked cuddling was about to become a reality.

Dean laid down on top of Cas, embracing the omega, trapping their dicks together against the warm skin of their bellies. Cas bit his lip and let out another sexy moan.

His ‘come cuddle me’ look now had a desperate quality to it. Oh, Dean was gonna cuddle him alright. He was gonna cuddle him _hard_.

Dean’s hands were still oily from rubbing the massage oil all over Cas’ back, so when he wormed one hand between them to take hold of their cocks, it slid along their lengths easily, providing just the right balance of friction and wet glide.

The heady scent of slick and sex in the room turned Dean on even more. Oh God, he had _Cas_ underneath him, writhing around and whimpering, and Dean couldn’t believe that the omega allowed him to do those things to him. Couldn’t believe that he really had Cas’ cock in his hand, tugging on it, rubbing his own dick all over it.

He was leaving his scent all over Cas, which was a heady feeling. He’d mark him in other ways, too, before they were done here.

Finally, his hands weren’t enough anymore, and Dean placed the head of his dick at the entrance to Cas’ body. Looking deep into his eyes to make sure it didn’t feel uncomfortable for Cas, Dean pushed forward inch by inch until his dick was finally where it belonged: inside of his omega.

Cas was staring at him, an expression of wonder on his face. Dean could relate. He couldn’t quite believe this was really happening, either.

Cas’ tight, silky heat around him felt so good. Now that his cock was making itself at home in Cas’ channel, there was really nothing holding him back from ducking down to lick across Cas’ soft lips.

They immediately opened as if Cas had waited for the kiss, and Dean placed some feather light kisses to his lips before moving back an inch, making Cas chase after his lips. After a while, he gave him what he wanted, licking into the omega’s mouth and then proceeding to fuck him with his tongue.

His dick was getting desperate to fuck Cas as well. Finally, unable to keep still for much longer, Dean slowly pulled out only to penetrate Cas again in one smooth movement. He was doing it. He was really fucking Castiel. Not in his dreams, but for real. His dick was gliding in and out of Cas, his best friend and sweetest omega he knew! There was no way they could be any closer because he was legit _inside of Cas_. Giving him the most intimate cuddle yet.

Cuddling closer, his hand wrapped around Cas’ erection again, and he gave a few tugs. That was all it took. Dean hadn’t fucked into Cas more than a couple times when the omega slammed his eyes shut, let out the sexiest little whimper Dean had ever heard, and his dick began spurting like crazy. His ass muscles clamped down, making Dean lose his rhythm.

Once Cas had spent himself, he sagged into the mattress, exhausted.

“Can I…?” Dean asked, unsure of the polite way of phrasing ‘keep fucking you even though you’ve already come.’

Cas’ head lolled in a nod and Dean picked up the pace a bit. He was pretty sure it had been a while for Cas as well, seeing as his last relationship had ended years ago and he hadn’t brought home any alphas since then. So, Dean tried to be gentle, but he still needed to go a bit faster to chase his own orgasm.

It didn’t take much, though. Just the fact that he was doing this with _Cas_ brought him close to the edge, and when the omega reached up to his neck, giving his mating gland a possessive fondle, Dean couldn’t hold back anymore. A few harsh thrusts into Cas’ channel and he saw stars, his dick pulsing deep inside of Cas, his seed coating the omega’s insides good and proper.

_Now_, Cas was marked by him in every way conceivable. Well, almost every way.

His knot had popped outside of Cas’ little hole, and he undulated his hips, pushing it against Cas a bit, a wordless question.

Cas answered that question by lifting his hips a bit more and pushing against Dean. It wasn’t enough to push his knot inside of Cas, but it was enough for Dean to know that he was allowed to tie them together. So, he took hold of the omega’s hips and pulled them against him, delivering another hard thrust until his knot was finally locked into place inside of Cas.

Then, Dean maneuvered them onto their sides so that they were more comfortable. Still high on endorphins, Dean gave Cas’ mating gland a quick nibble.

Cas was watching him, neither of them saying a word. That’s when Dean came down from his high and realized that he had just fucked _his best friend_. That he had come inside of him and they were currently connected by his knot in his asshole.

“So.” He quickly cleared his throat. “That was some game, huh? Tell me again how that’s not the perfect mating present.” He gave an awkward laugh. Cas continued to study him, now with his head tilted, so Dean blabbered on, “Guess this means I won.”

That got him narrowed eyes. Not the right thing to say, apparently. But what was he supposed to say? Cas wasn’t making this easy for him since he had yet to say anything at all.

“So,” Dean tried again, nonchalant. “Was that better than the alpha you’re fantasizing about during your heats?”

Cas blinked at him and then said in his usual deadpan, “_You’re_ the alpha I’m fantasizing about.”

And he was still looking at him as if he was trying to figure him out. As if he hadn’t just said something game-changing that made Dean’s heart beat faster.

“Yeah?” Dean asked, trying to play it cool while inside, fireworks went off.

“What about your omega?” Cas asked after a beat of silence.

Dean had no idea what he was getting at, but he knew one thing. “He’s right here in my arms,” he said, smiling sappily at Cas.

This time, he got an eye-roll for his efforts. “The one you hooked up with on trivia night,” Cas clarified.

“_What_?! I didn’t hook up with anyone!” As a matter of fact, he hadn’t hooked up with anyone in so long, he could barely remember the last time. Apart from right now, of course—but this was more of a declaration of love than a ‘hook-up.’

“Dean—you don’t need to lie to me. I could smell her on you.”

“I’m not lying,” Dean protested and then he suddenly realized what was going on. “Oh, you mean Anna?”

“Yes, _Anna_,” Cas spit.

Dean remembered how Cas had reacted when Dean had come home from trivia night, and he couldn’t suppress a laugh. Seemed like he had a jealous little omega on his hands and he absolutely _loved_ it. He was always so possessive and protective of Cas, it hadn’t occurred to him that Cas might be having some possessive feelings towards him as well.

“I didn’t hook up with her. She just filled in so that we had enough players,” he explained. “Believe me, if I had been able to get away, I would have. There’s only one omega whose scent I find absolutely _addictive_.”

And with that statement, Dean leaned close to scent along Cas’ neck, taking in big whiffs of that delicious scent.

Happy omega. _His _happy omega.

He found Cas’ mating gland again and gave it a lick as well before bringing his teeth in on the action and gently biting at it.

“This okay?” he asked, leaving Cas’ mating gland alone for a moment and leaning back a little so that he could search the omega’s eyes for permission.

Cas stared right back. “Are you asking to claim me?”

Trying to look enticing, Dean asked, “What if I am?”

Cas actually blushed. After all they had done, _this_ got his cheeks and neck to turn red. “Then I would like that,” he mumbled, making Dean grin widely.

He was just about to go back to town on Cas’ mating gland when he paused for a moment.

“So, just so we’re clear. You have this… thing, too?” he asked, suddenly feeling a bit shy himself.

“Thing?” Cas repeated, a confused frown on his face.

“You know. Feelings and stuff.”

Cas’ expression turned soft and he pulled Dean closer to lightly brush his lips against Dean’s. He wiggled his ass a bit, reminding Dean of how intimately they were connected.

“Yes, Dean,” he said when he broke the kiss. “I love you, too.”

“Cool. ’Cause, you know. Me too.”

And with that, he flicked his tongue over Cas’ mating gland a couple of times, enjoying the way it made Cas shiver, before gently biting down and finally—_finally_—making Cas his.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for your comments! They inspire me and boost my motivation to write other stories like this. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
> 
> If you want to support me another way: Since I'm a no-name fan on tumblr, it would help me out if you'd **[reblog this fanfic (click here for the tumblr link)](https://destielshipper4cas.tumblr.com/post/190213756464/cuddle-buddies-finished-rating-explicit-tags)**.


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